Govt slams Arundhati Roy, Geelani; BJP demands their arrest

NEW DELHI: As the authorities mull filing a criminal case against them, a senior Union minister on Tuesday slammed Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and writer Arundhati Roy for backing Kashmir\'s independence while the BJP demanded that the two be arrested on sedition charges.



A defiant Roy justified her support for \'azadi\' for Kashmir, saying she only spoke what \"millions of people\" in Kashmir say everyday for years.



While not being forthcoming on what action the government proposed to take against the duo, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said their comments were \"most unfortunate\". While there is freedom of speech, \"it can\'t violate the patriotic sentiments of the people,\" he said.



On BJP\'s allegations that government remained silent on the developments, he said, \"Politics cannot be mixed with statements which border sedition.\"



Asked whether his ministry had received a request from the Home Ministry seeking its legal opinion on whether the two can be booked for sedition, the Law Minister said, \"I was away for three days...I have not seen the file so far\".



Roy, the Booker Prize winning author, had said \"Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.\"



At a convention in the capital on \'Azadi--The Only Way\', Geelani shared the stage with Roy and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others. Geelani, who harped on independence for Kashmir, was heckled by a section of the audience with one of them throwing a shoe.



Roy issued a statement coming out strongly against moves to \"silence\" her.



\"Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds,\" Roy said in her statement from Srinagar where she is on a visit.



\"Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free,\" she said.



Roy has made two speeches in New Delhi and Srinagar in the past few days in which she sought independence for Kashmir from India.



The writer said she has read in newspapers that she may be arrested on charges of sedition for her remarks supporting \'azadi\' for Kashmir.



\"I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I as well as other commentators have written and said for years.



\"Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice,\" she said.



Stepping up its offensive, BJP demanded the arrests of Geelani and Roy on charges of sedition, saying anyone who speaks against the country should be hanged.



Picking on the government, BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar said it was in a \"dilemma\" on whether or not to take action against Geelani and Roy.



\"We condemn this approach and demand the immediate arrest of the two. Anyone speaking against India should be hanged,\" Kumar said.



\"No power in the world can disintegrate Kashmir from India. The UPA is silent and is taking no action on the people who made anti-India comments and that too in New Delhi,\" he said.



Demanding action against Geelani and Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, \"The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary,\"



\"We are waiting to see what action the Home Minister is going to take,\" she said.



Another party spokesperson Prakash Javedekar said, there is perfect case of sedition against Roy and Geelani \"That is why we have demanded that an FIR be registered against them and they should be arrested.\"



Government has sought legal opinion for taking action against the duo under sedition and other charges.



Hitting out at Geelani and Roy, Union minister and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said there was \"too much of freedom\" that was being used by some to destroy the country.



\"There is too much of freedom in India that some Indians themselves are taking advantage of this and destroying the country. There are no limits of the way they are using this freedom,\" he said on being asked about the speeches made by Roy and Geelani.



Asked if people such as Roy were exploiting the freedom of speech, Abdullah said, \"Country has given the freedom, it is up to them how they use this freedom. It is for them to realise what is right and what is wrong. What to say and what not to say is for a person to decide.\"
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